A week after Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs, promised to make available the tenancy agreement covering his purportedly rented luxurious mansion at Airport Hills to the Appointments Committee of Parliament, he has refused to honour the pledge made on oath, raising questions about potential perjury.
The Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) provides that a person who commits perjury commits a second-degree felony. It further explains that a person commits perjury if he knowingly make a false statement or make a statement without having reason to believe it is true on oath.
Answering questions during his vetting on Friday, 31 January 2025, the North Tongu Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Government’s Committee for Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) promised to submit the document, among others, to substantiate claims made before the committee.
Mr Ablakwa pledged to furnish the committee with the requested documents, following a request by Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, Minority Leader and Ranking Member on the committee, with leave of the Chairman. These documents include his tenancy agreement, a letter to the Clerk to Parliament concerning the use of his car loan for the procurement of a combined harvester, evidence of U.S. student visa details, details of SSNIT and tax deductions for work done at an Information Technology (I.T.) company in Nkawkaw, and evidence of tax paid on contracts executed by SAVVI Company.
Other documents to be supplied to the committee included evidence of tax payment on his current Volta Klenam Company, proof of a secondary source of payment for his rent, documentation on the combined harvester, and records relating to the two saloon cars purchased with the 2017 car loan.
However, by the time the Appointments Committee was finalising its report, he had only been able to furnish the committee with documentation on SAVVI and Volta Klenam Companies, raising concerns about what he might be hiding that prevents him from submitting the documents he had pledged under oath to provide.
Some have also questioned why the chairman of a committee tasked with recovering loot and fighting corruption is unable to provide the necessary evidence for scrutiny.
On Tuesday, the Minority Leader and Ranking Member of the committee demanded the submission of all documents that Mr Ablakwa had promised the Appointments Committee to substantiate claims made during his vetting.
It will be remembered that Mr Ablakwa struggled to defend his lavish lifestyle when subjected to scrutiny before Parliament’s Appointments Committee.
The Minister-designate, who has arrogated to himself the role of a citizen-vigilante, pursuing individuals’ properties, branding everyone a thief, and defaming people for owning assets, was unable to explain how, despite never having worked in any private capacity outside politics, he could afford the kind of luxurious lifestyle he enjoys.
During his appearance before Parliament’s Appointments Committee, the North Tongu MP was visibly shaken and struggled to respond to inquiries about how he funded his luxurious Airport Hills residence and his first- and business-class flights. The chairman of the committee, Bernard Ahiafor, eventually intervened to rescue him.
Ablakwa, who has led raids on people’s properties on allegations that they were acquired through the looting of state resources, claimed that he had been renting his plush Airport Hills mansion for the past eight years. When asked how he had been paying the rent, the chairman of the committee quickly interjected and overruled the question, allowing Ablakwa to evade scrutiny.
When questioned about the mansion, given that all Airport lands are state-owned, and how someone appointed to chair a committee responsible for recovering looted state lands could himself be living on state land, the chairman again intervened to overrule the question. However, Ablakwa admitted to living in the dollar-priced Airport Hills, raising questions about how a person whose entire career has been in politics could afford such luxury while claiming to protect state resources.
Furthermore, he could not provide details of any private- or public-sector employment he had engaged in before entering politics. Yet, despite labelling others corrupt for flying business class, he could not commit to flying economy when travelling abroad. Instead, he claimed he would reduce the number of officials travelling on state duties so that this would not affect his extravagant lifestyle of enjoying first-class travel. This stance contradicts his previous calls for President Akufo-Addo and members of the previous administration to emulate Tanzania’s late President John Magufuli’s lifestyle of travelling economy.
